One-upping Mother Nature with false lashes

While I am all for loving what Mother Nature has chosen to bestow—or not bestow—upon you, there are times when you can’t help but want to add a little sumthin’ sumthin’ to your look. Case in point: eyelashes. Whenever I want to look extra special or play up my eyes a bit more, I will sometimes add a pair of false eyelashes to my normal routine of eyeshadow/eyeliner/mascara. Granted, I do have a little difficulty attaching falsies to my real lashes (I find it way easier applying them unto other people’s peepers); however, when I do take the time for this extra step, I always find that the effort is worth it.

In my opinion, there are three important things to remember when it comes to false eyelashes. First, you have to measure the false lash against your own lashline; if you find that the false lash is too long for you, trim from the inside with a pair of sharp scissors. Trimming from the inside will allow you to keep the longer hairs at the outer end, so important for lifting the eye and really enhancing your look.

Second, you’ll want to invest in a good-quality eyelash glue. Cheaper falsies will usually work as well as the more expensive ones (emphasis on the word usually: I’ve tried some of the dirt-cheap ones and found them so inflexible that I couldn’t get them to follow the contour of my eye). What you want to do is spend a bit more money on the glue so that your falsies don’t come off at the most inopportune moments.

DUO waterproof eyelash adhesive

Third, you will probably need to practice attaching false eyelashes a few times before it comes easily to you. Applying falsies five minutes before you have to leave for a night-out is not a situation in which you want to find yourself, unless your fine motor skills are all in place, that is.

Now let’s run through a quick how-to:

1) Gently detach the false eyelash from its plastic tray. Trim from the inner corners, if needed.
2) Apply a fine line of glue to the entire lower edge of the lash (the part that will sit atop your own lashes), making sure to apply glue all the way to both corners of the lash.
3) Wait for 15-20 seconds until the glue becomes a bit tacky, and then lay the false lash on top of your own lashes. Secure the corners by pressing on them gently. You can use your fingers or a pair of tweezers to do this.
4) Gently press the falsies unto your own lashes so that they blend together seamlessly.
5) I use a glue that dries clear. If you find that the glue is still obvious even after it dries, you can draw a fine line of liquid eyeliner on top of it.

Here are some false eyelash styles that you can try out. I got these from the Face Shop at Php 115 each. (All of them come with a tiny tube of glue, which is nice. They also provide detailed instructions inside the box. Totally useful, if you can read Korean 😉 )

This is a pair that you can use if you want to enhance your own lashes, but still want a natural effect. What I love about these is that they’re three-quarter lashes (if I recall correctly), eliminating the need for trimming the lashes to fit my eyes.

And here’s a really dramatic pair you can use for special evening events.

And, for the times when you just want to accentuate your eyes’ outer corners or you want to control which areas of your lashline to emphasize, you can use individuals like these.

Best to apply these with a pair of tweezers to aid you in placement 🙂

Oh, and one last thing: if you’re careful about removing, cleaning, and storing your falsies, you can actually reuse them several times. Just detach them carefully (with a little help from a cotton ball soaked in warm water), remove bits of glue, and store in their original plastic tray. For purposes of hygiene, of course, it is best that you reuse only falsies which you’ve used on yourself. 🙂